When a defense is creating more opportunities for an offense, things usually go well.“Ever since the little mini-bye, the Thursday night game, Smitty (Smith) and the Madden 19 Coins defensive coaches cut it back a little bit, simplified things, maybe doing a little bit less,” head coach Dirk Koetter told ESPN after beating the Seahawks. “[It] let these guys play faster and they’ve responded.”The defense isn’t doing it alone, though.Jameis Winston has been betterThe first game of the season for the Buccaneers came against the Falcons in Atlanta and made everybody think Winston was going to have a monster sophomore season. He pleted nearly 72 percent of his passes, throwing for 281 yards and four touchdowns against just one pick.
It was a dominating and masterful performance.In the seven games after that, Winston pleted just under 58 percent of his passes, throwing for 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. The Bucs went 2-5 in that span, and Winston’s slump raised plenty of questions in the MUT 19 Coins Bucs organization.Since then, Winston’s played much better, but he still hasn’t necessarily been great. In their last five wins, he’s pleted nearly 67 percent of his passes, throwing for six touchdowns and three picks. The passing numbers aren’t as prolific as you might expect of a franchise quarterback, but he’s gotten the job done. The extra chances that the defense has given him has undoubtedly been a big help.He’s found other ways to help his team. Since Week 10, he’s been better on third downs, throwing just one third-down interception and converting them into first downs at a higher rate.
Through the first 10 weeks, he pleted 44 percent of them. He’s now up to 58. Winston might not be padding the stat sheet we’re used to seeing quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Drew Brees do, but he’s protecting the Madden NFL and being more accurate.
